Trash picking. Garbage grabbing. Dumpster diving. Gleaning. Roadside rescue. Landfill liberation. Treasure hunting. What do you call it? What attitudes have you encountered about it? And how do you feel about it?
I figure most of us on this particular forum feel great about it and have few qualms about stopping almost anywhere to pick up anything left out for grabs. But what is the prevailing attitude among others in your area?
I live in a semi-rural acreage community that has bulk pickup twice a week. It's a great place to go gleaning, and many people do it. I routinely carry gloves, rope & bungee cords in my van all the time just in case I find a treasure along my travels. I've learned the hard way that if you see something choice you'd better stop then to grab it before someone else does. But somehow I still feel shy about it, and wonder what other folks think about me as I'm packing. Especially along my own street, I usually wait until after dark, after bedtime, and grab up my choices then. I think I'm the only one on this street who does this, and don't want my neighbors to think less of me.
Why are there still negative attitudes towards this? In this day & age with all sorts of discussion about "Reduce/Reuse/Recycle" you'd think that more people would be doing this, and less folks simply trashing potentially useful things. Whenever I do a big clean-out I'll sort my discard piles and separate the genuine trash from the reusable things. But other folks might set out a decent couch, then place leaking paint cans on top of it, then pile thorny branches on top of that.
In my previous neighborhood I had neighbors who would always set out useable furniture on the quarterly bulk pick-up days. And then their older children & teens would take baseball bats and amuse themselves by beating the furniture into splinters. That would always break my heart at the waste. There were always gleaners who would troll the neighborhood during bulk pick-up days and could have used those items. And today my new neighbors were clearing out the shed & back yard of the house they just bought. They piled some furniture out front (which I noted & planned to rescue after dark) and then took a power saw and cut a perfectly good yard swing into pieces!
I have NO idea why they did that. It wasn't so heavy, or rusted, or cemented into the ground, it could have easily been carried out to the road (and into my back yard!
) but now it's in pieces. They recently moved from one of their parents' homes in this area, so they must already be familiar with the gleaners who troll these neighborhoods.
I've been puzzling over this, and have thought of some reasons why a person would discourage/fail to enable those who would reuse their discards:
They don't want people making a mess of their piles (a legitimate concern, that's why I'm careful to keep things tidy).
They don't think their discards have any value any more, they sincerely don't think anyone else could find use with them.
It makes them feel rich to have things to waste.
They have distain for those less fortunate than them & don't want other people to have their discarded items.
I wish there were ways to promote this practice of "Trash picking", to encourage others to not be shy about it, and instruct folks in good ettiquete about it, both leaving things out & picking them up.
What do you think?
I figure most of us on this particular forum feel great about it and have few qualms about stopping almost anywhere to pick up anything left out for grabs. But what is the prevailing attitude among others in your area?
I live in a semi-rural acreage community that has bulk pickup twice a week. It's a great place to go gleaning, and many people do it. I routinely carry gloves, rope & bungee cords in my van all the time just in case I find a treasure along my travels. I've learned the hard way that if you see something choice you'd better stop then to grab it before someone else does. But somehow I still feel shy about it, and wonder what other folks think about me as I'm packing. Especially along my own street, I usually wait until after dark, after bedtime, and grab up my choices then. I think I'm the only one on this street who does this, and don't want my neighbors to think less of me.
Why are there still negative attitudes towards this? In this day & age with all sorts of discussion about "Reduce/Reuse/Recycle" you'd think that more people would be doing this, and less folks simply trashing potentially useful things. Whenever I do a big clean-out I'll sort my discard piles and separate the genuine trash from the reusable things. But other folks might set out a decent couch, then place leaking paint cans on top of it, then pile thorny branches on top of that.
In my previous neighborhood I had neighbors who would always set out useable furniture on the quarterly bulk pick-up days. And then their older children & teens would take baseball bats and amuse themselves by beating the furniture into splinters. That would always break my heart at the waste. There were always gleaners who would troll the neighborhood during bulk pick-up days and could have used those items. And today my new neighbors were clearing out the shed & back yard of the house they just bought. They piled some furniture out front (which I noted & planned to rescue after dark) and then took a power saw and cut a perfectly good yard swing into pieces!
I have NO idea why they did that. It wasn't so heavy, or rusted, or cemented into the ground, it could have easily been carried out to the road (and into my back yard!
) but now it's in pieces. They recently moved from one of their parents' homes in this area, so they must already be familiar with the gleaners who troll these neighborhoods. I've been puzzling over this, and have thought of some reasons why a person would discourage/fail to enable those who would reuse their discards:
They don't want people making a mess of their piles (a legitimate concern, that's why I'm careful to keep things tidy).
They don't think their discards have any value any more, they sincerely don't think anyone else could find use with them.
It makes them feel rich to have things to waste.
They have distain for those less fortunate than them & don't want other people to have their discarded items.
I wish there were ways to promote this practice of "Trash picking", to encourage others to not be shy about it, and instruct folks in good ettiquete about it, both leaving things out & picking them up.
What do you think?
